by Ruby Loren
“You don’t think Ben will do it alone?” I asked.
Skye shook her head. “It’s not exactly politically correct to be saying this, but the producers employ a male and a female presenter deliberately. They’re lucky enough to have a female director on the team, but if you look around, you must have noticed that most of the people here are male. The TV industry is under the microscope in terms of gender equality right now. No way will they want to lose their publicly equal image by only having a male presenter. Just between us, Leona’s ethnic heritage will have done the producers a favour, too. ”
I exchanged a surprised look with Aimee. Frankly, I was astonished that Skye was so shrewd. It served me right for underestimating her, just because she’d seemed to have a serious case of hero-worship going on for Leona.
“I wonder who they’ll pick?” I said, as I assumed I was supposed to.
“I have no idea,” Skye replied, casually flicking her strawberry blonde hair over one shoulder. “They’re already behind on the filming schedule because of the protesters interfering, and some of the equipment apparently got damaged in transit. It will take even more time if they decide to fly someone out here…” She pasted on a bright smile and shrugged. “Who knows? I’m sure they’ll make the right decision.”
“I bet,” Aimee said, not entirely positively.
Skye threw her a mixed look and then walked away from the table.
“Might have been a bit harsh there,” Aimee confided when she’d gone. “I’m just so sick of everyone plotting behind the backs of everyone else. It’s like being at school - times a hundred!”
“You’re not wrong,” I said, finishing off my sandwich. From what I’d seen and heard, and even the mood I sensed in the plaza, it all indicated that no one was particularly upset that Leona Richards had come to a messy end. Instead of grief, the air felt full of intrigue, both as to how and who she was killed by, and - perhaps even more importantly - who was going to take her place?
“How did giving your statement go?”
I glanced up from where I’d been standing, looking at the only tank in proximity to the plaza - the seal enclosure. Ben stood next to me, looking defeated.
“It was okay. I didn’t know what to say really. I never got a chance to get to know Leona,” I said, hoping he’d understand why I wasn’t visibly grieving.
“It must have been awful for you, finding her like that.” Ben’s hazel eyes were full of concern.
I hesitated. I’d been about to say that Darius was the one who’d found her, but that was hardly what Ben was asking. “I’m okay,” I reassured him. “I’m sure both of us have seen a lot of death in our lines of work. A lot of life, too,” I said, focusing on the seal enclosure and watching them shoot through the water like silver arrows.
“I know I’ll sound like a hypocrite, but it’s one thing when you experience the circle of life with animals and quite another when it’s a human, especially someone that I…” He cleared his throat and took a couple of beats before speaking again. “It just brings it home, that’s all. None of us are going to live forever.”
I nodded my head. It was a morbid sentiment, and one that only tended to arise when something like this occurred, but it was still an important one to hold in mind. “We just have to do the best with what we’ve got. Do what you love and try to make a difference, even if it’s just by being as kind as you can to every living thing that you meet.” I wondered if it sounded too sappy, but when Ben reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder, sharing his grief for a moment, I thought that my message from the heart had been the right thing to share.
I looked up into Ben’s hazel eyes and the face that I’d seen on television so many times. It was surreal being this close with someone who’d inspired me for years, especially when he was in such a human, vulnerable state. I’d discovered that he and I differed in our views on certain things, but I was certain that a love for animals was not one of them. Today just further proved that all in all, Ben Ravenwood was a good man.
Then I realised Ben was leaning in. His face moved closer to mine and with one inch to spare, I realised what was happening and ducked.
“I’m sorry,” Ben immediately said, as soon as he’d regained his balance.
“It’s okay. No harm done. You’re upset,” I said, excusing his actions.
When Katya interrupted us with a courteous ‘Ma’am?’, I almost wanted to hug her with relief. Instead, I patted Ben on the shoulder and then followed after her, keeping a slightly concerned look on my face. I found the last part was the easiest to do.
“What was that I just walked in on?” Katya said when we were once more behind the stingray tank.
“Nothing. Ben’s upset. I don’t think he’s thinking straight,” I explained.
“I believe it. But, as someone who spends a lot of their time watching people do stuff, remember that you and he are the kind of people who have eyes on them most of the time. And not everyone is going to make the correct assumption.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“What are friends for?” Katya said with a surreptitious smile. “Anyway, I called you over here to let you know you can go. I don’t actually know what the rest of the police are even doing right now. But you’re not actually known to be working on the documentary and I can cover for you if anyone does ask. It’s not like you killed her.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said with a smirk, already turning and heading for the hidden entrance Auryn and I had walked through when we’d first visited The Big Blue. I thought about Katya’s warning as I walked out across the car park. It was a good piece of advice to keep in mind for the future.
Little did I know, her warning had already come too late.
8
A Bright Star
Auryn had texted me to say that he was staying out late on a nighttime scuba dive. I’d read between the lines but had texted back saying it was fine and that I hoped he saw something good. When I opened my eyes the next morning, Auryn was standing there holding a tray of food.
“I made you breakfast,” he said, looking apologetic.
“Awww you sprinkled chocolate raisins on my cornflakes!” I looked down at what I would, in my adult years, class as my favourite breakfast cereal. I liked to pretend that cornflakes weren’t too bad as cereals went and then raisins were a fruit, right? The less said about the chocolate part, the better.
“I wanted to say sorry. I know that you had nothing to do with that woman dying, but I just freaked out a bit. I guess I’d hoped that yesterday would be the last we saw of the marine park and all of the TV people.”
“Me too,” I said emphatically. I stuck a spoon in my cornflakes and then hesitated. “I wonder if it’s hit the news yet?”
“I’ll look, you eat your weird cereal,” Auryn said, pulling out his phone. I poked him with the spoon, but he just reached into my cereal and stole a chocolate raisin.
“Hey!”
“Oh man, that is disgusting. I’m not doing that again.”
“Good,” I said, protectively shielding my bowl from further invasion.
It was because I was still watching him closely that I saw the exact moment the smile dropped off his face.
“What the hell happened yesterday?” Auryn asked, his mouth set in a grim line.
“Leona got murdered in a terrible way.” I tried to see over his shoulder.
My fiancé stayed silent and then angled the phone screen towards me.
“Oh. Oh no,” I said, looking at a picture of myself hugging Ben Ravenwood and then - worse - one where he looked like he was about to kiss me and I looked like I might be about to be sick.
But the real kicker was the headline.
Madigan Amos and Ben Ravenwood find love in murder!
“That’s not at all what happened,” I said, and then for some strange reason, I felt a giggle rise up inside of me. It escaped my mouth in a strange snorting snuffle.
Auryn looked at me like I’d gone crazy
.
“Ben was really upset when Leona died. He said they were together, really recently, although it sounded like he’d just broken it off. I believe he still felt strongly for her - perhaps more than he realised. He was going to pieces, so I let him hug me and pull himself back together. The other photo, well…” I shot Auryn a slightly hurt look. “What does my face say to you? I ducked right after that was taken.”
Auryn’s grim line wobbled a bit and then collapsed entirely. “I’m sorry for the second time this morning. I know you wouldn’t do that. You look like a startled sheep. Shall I get you another bowl of gross cereal?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Hey, wait! I look like a what?!”
Auryn snorted in amusement. I beat him with my spoon for a bit. “What was with the makeup?” he asked when I’d realised that soggy cornflakes were more pressing than revenge for an insult.
“Urgh, I know. Nothing to do with me.”
“Well, I gathered that much.”
I raised the spoon again, but he mimed zipping his lips.
“Do you think I can sue whoever wrote this?” I asked, more curious than anything else.
Auryn scrolled down the webpage with me tutting at all of the insinuations about my non-existent relationship with Ben Ravenwood. Don’t they know that I’m engaged?
“Hmm, I reckon that might be difficult, considering that someone from your publishing company has taken an advert out at the bottom, offering exclusive interviews, book signings, and photo shoots. I wonder who that could be?” Auryn and I exchanged a dark look.
“That’s it! I am calling my publishers and telling them to ditch Colin, or lose me.” I winced the second after I said it.
“Are those documentary divas rubbing off on you?” Auryn joked.
“The biggest diva of them all just got murdered. I’d say it’s hardly a good way to make friends.”
We sat in thoughtful silence for a bit. Well - silence apart from the crunching of my cereal.
“There’s something else I need to tell you,” I said when I was left with just a bowl filled with the last dregs of milk. I’d been thinking about how to say it whilst I’d eaten, and I still hadn’t come up with something perfect. “Someone I met at Mellon Zoo is working with the police force here.”
Auryn grew pale. “Did you speak to this person?”
I nodded. “She’s investigating the murder. Prior to that her police work has mostly been surveillance. Quite boring, really.” There, that gave him enough hints without me outright breaking the Official Secrets Act I’d signed under protest.
“Nothing interesting happening apart from murder?”
I lifted my shoulders up one after the other. “I don’t think so. Tiff’s boyfriend is the only weird thing. He spent the night before Leona died with her. Ben punched him when he found out. I’m surprised that’s not in the papers, but I guess the way the press are spinning this is in Ben Ravenwood’s favour.” I frowned a little when I remembered those pictures with their misleading captions. All things will pass, I silently told myself.
“When we get back home, I’m making it a zoo rule that no secret agents can come in,” Auryn declared.
“How will you spot them if they’re secret?” I asked with an amused grin.
“They all look like James Bond, right?”
We were still joking around when the knock on the sliding doors came.
“It could be the press,” I said, my eyes widening. I’d hoped they still didn’t know exactly where we were staying - or didn’t care that much - but with a murder on the table, things might have changed.
Auryn stuck his head out of the bedroom and looked. “Not the press. It’s your very close friend, Ben.”
I shot him a look to see if he was kidding around about the close friend bit, but I couldn’t tell. Perhaps he hadn’t been as convinced by my explanation of those photos as I’d thought.
“What does he think he’s doing, coming around here during an open murder investigation?” I said, pulling on some semi-decent clothes and stalking to the door.
“Morning, Ben, what can I do for you?” I asked, determined to be as polite and proper as possible.
Ben looked from me to Auryn, who was leaning against the wall, watching everything that went on.
“I actually came to apologise about what’s been in the papers this morning.” He unrolled an actual printed newspaper, local to Mallorca. The front page featured the picture where I was about to duck away from Ben’s attempted kiss. Leona Richards’ murder was actually the subheading rather than the headline. It was unbelievable.
Ben lifted his gaze to meet Auryn’s challenging one. “I’m sure Madi has already told you, but I was really upset when I found out Leona had been killed. She was there for me and I tried to do something stupid that I would never have done if I was thinking straight. I am really sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Auryn said after a brief hesitation.
“Can I come in?” the zoologist asked with an anxious glance over his shoulder.
I pulled open the sliding doors and then shut it behind him. Tensions may still be running high in the room, but I didn’t want to risk another secretive shot of us.
“So much for loyalty to your colleagues. I wonder how much whoever it was got paid for those pictures?” Ben had a dark expression on his face. “The producers are already on it, figuring out who was responsible. You can guarantee that their career in the industry will be over when it’s discovered. Believe it or not, we do value loyalty and discretion. Take Leona for example…” He looked around like we were all on the same wavelength.
We were not.
“I told you she’d been acting off recently. No one ever reported that! We’re loyal,” Ben said, resting his case.
I exchanged a look with Auryn. From what Ben had just mentioned about hunting down the perpetrator and ruining their career, I’d say it was less loyalty, more fear, but whatever made them happy…
“The police haven’t told you anything, have they?” Ben said, walking over to the sofa and sitting down on it.
“No, there’s no reason why they would,” I said, making sure I didn’t look over at Auryn after our conversation of hints about the prior acquaintance working the case.
Ben nodded. “You’re right. I’m just clutching at straws. I didn’t tell the police this, because it’s just a feeling, but ever since we all got together and started work on this documentary, I’ve felt like Leona’s been keeping something from me. The last documentary we worked on was six months ago, out in the Serengeti. Back then, she was great! She never complained and was so professional. That’s when we started seeing each other.”
“Perhaps her secret was that she wasn’t exactly faithful,” Auryn said. I shot him a glare. it may be the truth, but he didn’t have to rub it in Ben’s face!
To my relief, Ben didn’t react. “I know that scumbag Darius somehow managed to slime his way into her good graces, but that’s just it - the Leona I knew would never entertain someone like him.”
“Maybe you just didn’t know her as well as you thought you did.” Auryn walked across the room and turned on the coffee machine, his eyes avoiding meeting mine.
“I think you might be right,” Ben said, amiably. “I can’t think of any reason why someone would want her dead.”
That seemed to surprise Auryn out of his funk for a moment and he asked if Ben wanted coffee.
The wildlife presenter stood up and walked over to wait by the machine with my irate fiancé. “How did you both meet and fall for each other? I feel lame asking, but I could do with hearing a story that has a happy ending.”
For a moment, I thought Auryn was going to shut him down, but he seemed to finally come to his senses and his shoulders sunk a little. “Madi got a job working as a zookeeper at my family’s zoo. At the time, I was still doing a university course in business and learning to be an apprentice keeper on the side. My father wanted me to take on the zoo, but back then, I was pretty sure I
wanted to be a zookeeper and leave the managing stuff to him for as long as possible - perhaps forever.” He cleared his throat. “Things didn’t turn out that way and I now own and run the zoo. Even before all of that happened, I knew I had feelings for Madi. She wasn’t like the other girls at the zoo. I don’t know how to describe it other than there was something special. Perhaps even then I knew that she was the one. Of course, she turned me down…”
Ben’s eyebrows shot up and Auryn smiled for the first time.
“Anyway, in the end, things worked out the way they should. We came together and nothing is going to pull us apart.” A little steel came into his voice, but I knew he wasn’t truly threatened by Ben any more. There was a glint in the TV presenter’s eye that hinted to me he’d known exactly what he was doing when he’d asked Auryn to tell our story. He’d reminded the zoo owner of everything we’d been through together and the far more serious times we’d weathered that made a silly newspaper front page pale into insignificance.
“I’m sorry this has all happened while you’re on holiday,” Ben said pressing his advantage. “I honestly thought we’d have seen the last of each other yesterday morning. Now, who knows?”
“I just hope they find whoever killed her.” I moved closer to Auryn and leant against him.
Ben looked lost and alone for a moment. “Whoever it was and whatever the reason, I know that she didn’t deserve it. Leona was a bright star extinguished just as everything was taking off.”
But that could be the very reason someone killed her, I silently thought as we stood in solemn silence.
I called my publishers immediately after Ben had left. I’d had my privacy invaded enough by someone who was theoretically supposed to be helping my career.
A woman called Trudy, who seemed to handle everything practical at Lemon and Lime Publishing House answered the phone and I explained my problem, politely at first, and then, when I was deflected, more adamantly.
“Colin has a lot of experience. He’ll get you so much exposure. You wouldn’t believe how often he ends up in the papers himself. He’s practically a celebrity in his own right!” Trudy prattled. Imagine that, I snidely thought to myself.
